Letter: Congress should protect rural seniors

Sunday

Jan 21, 2018 at 11:48 AMJan 21, 2018 at 11:48 AM

By Kelly Lockhart

As Congress picks up where they left off last year and considers funding Medicare program through "extenders package" policies, I encourage our representatives to support access to low cost, patient preferred care in the home for rural Medicare beneficiaries by extending the home health rural safeguard and protecting the current rural definition.

The rural safeguard provision, which expired on Dec. 31, 2017, compensates home health providers in all rural areas to help cover the higher costs - often from time and travel - of providing care in rural communities. Some in Congress want to limit the definition of rural in such a way that 85% of seniors who had been covered would no longer qualify. Without access to home health, many of these patients will end up in the more expensive hospital setting, increasing costs to the patient and taxpayers.

Extending the current home health rural safeguard is the compassionate, no-brainer, policy choice. I hope Members of Congress make the right choice and protect America's rural home health patients.

Kelly Lockhart, Morehead City

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